1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of dental cameras, and more particularly to an intra-oral dental camera system which can be switched easily between wireless and wired modes of operation.
2. Related Art
For many years, dental practitioners used dental mirrors to more clearly visualize and diagnose difficult to see areas in a patient""s mouth. Dental mirrors remain useful in certain respects, but significant limitations exist. First, it is often difficult using mirrors to visualize a dental structure, because the image must be reflected into the practitioner""s line of sight. Second, mirrors provide a relatively small image that can be difficult to see, particularly for older practitioners. Third, providing the lighting necessary to properly and fully illuminate the area being reflected by the mirror is often difficult. Furthermore, it is often very difficult using mirrors to communicate information to the patient or to other practitioners because the image that is being visualized depends upon the viewer""s position relative to the mirror. Moreover, mirrors do not provide a permanent record of what a dental practitioner sees.
In order to address these and other significant limitations associated with using mirrors to visualize and diagnose obscure areas of a patient""s mouth, intra-oral cameras were introduced into the field, and are now widely used in the dental industry to enhance the dental practitioner""s ability to view the inside of a patient""s mouth. Intra-oral dental cameras are also useful in providing the patient with a visual understanding of his or her clinical options, and in obtaining a permanent record of the condition of the patient""s mouth.
Existing dental cameras provide advantages over dental mirrors in several respects. First, they do not require positioning towards a reflected angle. Also, they can be used as xe2x80x9cteaching toolsxe2x80x9d to communicate information to others, since more than just the dentist may view their output.
Moreover, many dental cameras have built-in light sources that illuminate the area being photographed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,294 to Schick et al., for example, discloses a dental imaging system including a handheld video camera that uses a white LED to illuminate the subject. The camera allows for a slimmer instrument, a feature that is preferred clinically because of easier access to places that thicker instruments cannot reach.
The first dental cameras were simply adaptations of video endoscopes used in the field of medicine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,001 to Milbank et al. provides an example of an early dental camera. Milbank et al. discusses a hand-held endoscopic apparatus consisting of a body, a camera, and a removable and interchangeable image-gathering element capable of presenting an image of an object to the camera. The image-gathering element, also called an objective element, may enable viewing of an image at varying angles because the objective element may be flexible or rigid and may be of a variety of sizes and shapes. The objective element connects to a handpiece which has a hollow or tubular body portion rotatably carrying a central shaft upon which is mounted a video camera arrangement such as a CCD mosaic chip camera. The tubular design is suited for penetration into the convoluted cavity of the human body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,307 to Cooper discloses an electronic video dental camera which includes a handle and a camera head located at the distal end of the handle. The camera head is formed at an angle to the handle in order to provide the same general shape of dental mirrors, and includes light sources for illuminating the area to be viewed. Circuitry may be located in the handle, cable, or connectors.
Today""s wired dental cameras typically have a handpiece which contains an image sensor and optics. The cameras also typically have a base station which provides power, light, and video processing. A connection is required to deliver the power and light from the base station to the handpiece. This is usually achieved by providing a cable that has both electrical and optical conductors. The light is often delivered by way of a flexible fiber optic bundle.
Wired dental cameras, although more advantageous in many respects than dental mirrors, as explained above, also have a number of limitations. Some of these limitations are due to the inconvenience caused by the cable. The cable presents several problems. First, it limits the distance between the base station and the handpiece. Second, it limits the portability of the system, making it difficult to transport the system between rooms and such. Third, it causes the handpiece to be more cumbersome and therefore harder to maneuver within a patient""s mouth.
Existing wireless cameras directed to dental applications attempt to address these and other drawbacks, although certain limitations with these types of cameras also exist. For example, although some prior art systems relating to wired cameras use optical fibers to direct light from the base station to the handpiece, in a wireless camera, the light source must be integral to the handpiece. Some prior art wireless systems are equipped with a lamp which is placed at the end of the imaging head, but such design usually results in a camera body which is too large. It is desirable for a dental camera design to adhere to practical limits relating to size and weight. In addition, the handpiece of the wireless dental camera should include a light source, a power source, and a transmitter.
Thus, despite their advantages, wireless cameras will necessarily be heavier than wired ones, since they need to incorporate a transmitter and a power supply. There are times, therefore, when a dental practitioner might prefer a wired camera over a wireless one. Accordingly, the optimal intra-oral camera would be switchable between those two modes.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2001/0052930 A1 to Adair et al. is directed to a reduced area imaging device, such as an endoscope, and teaches a wired and a wireless embodiment; however, it does not show a single device that is switchable between wired and wireless modes of operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,289 to Yarush et al. relates to a hand-held portable endoscopic camera that purports to be capable of operating in either of a cordless or corded mode. However, Yarush et al. eliminates the cord by providing in a self-contained, allegedly hand-held apparatus lens means, video image means, light source means, and power supply means, along with a liquid crystal display monitor 36 on which the images may be viewed. The inclusion of such a monitor on the handpiece makes it a heavy and cumbersome device. Moreover, some of the inherent advantages of a dental camera, such as for example the ability to allow multiple people, including the patient, to easily view the images, are mitigated substantially. Furthermore, in another embodiment of Yarush et al., the camera is electrically coupled to the contents of a supplemental casing to be held in a practitioner""s hand or mounted on the practitioner""s belt. The case contains power supply means, light source means, video imaging means, transmitter means, and/or display means. Therefore, a wire still protrudes from the patient""s mouth in order to connect to the supplemental casing.
There exists, therefore, a great need for a dental camera which overcomes the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The technique should ideally provide a dental camera which is lighter in weight, less bulky, easier to maneuver within a patient""s mouth, and more portable than prior art systems.
The present invention provides an intra-oral dental camera system that is capable of being operated in both wireless and wired modes, and that can be switched easily between the two. Both the wireless and the wired modes interface through a common connector. In the wired mode, the camera is connected to an image processing system, such as a computer, via a cable attached to the connector. In the wireless mode, the connector is removed from the cable and is attached to a wireless adaptor module containing supplemental components such as a battery and a transmitter, allowing for convenient and unconfined operation. With this system, clinical flexibility is afforded to the dental practitioner.
It is an object of this invention to provide a removable wireless adaptor module which is placed integral but distal to the dental camera. In this way, the dental camera may be used either in the wired mode for a lighter tool and for a continuous mode of operation during a longer procedures or in the wireless mode for less restricted maneuverability. The wired mode is effected simply by removing the connector from the wireless adaptor module and plugging it into a cable.
Therefore, the dental camera may be used either with a cable or with a removable RF module. This provides the practitioner with the flexibility to use the camera in the mode which is most effective for the particular situation and which is most preferable to the practitioner.
It is therefore object of this invention to overcome the problems of the prior art discussed above by providing a dental camera which is lighter in weight, smaller in size, less bulky, and more portable than prior art systems.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a dental camera capable of being switched easily between wired and wireless modes and which has a light source to illuminate dental structures in a patient""s mouth. The preferred embodiment employs an LED light source.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a camera attachment for receiving the transmitter circuitry and battery pack.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, these and other objects may be accomplished by the present invention, which is a dental camera system which can be switched easily between wireless and wired modes of operation
The invention in one embodiment provides a dental camera capable of operating in a wireless mode and a wired mode. A handpiece includes means for generating a signal representing a video image and a first connector. A wireless adaptor module includes a power supply for supplying power to the handpiece, a transmitter for transmitting the signal representing a video image, and a second connector that mates with the first connector when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode. A cable has a third connector that mates with the first connector when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode.
The transmitter transmits the signal representing a video image to an image processing unit via a wireless link when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode. The cable is connected to the image processing unit when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode. The cable supplies power to the handpiece when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode. The power supply may be a rechargeable battery. The first connector may be located on a proximal end of the handpiece.
The invention in another embodiment provides a dental camera system capable of operating in a wireless mode and a wired mode for transmitting a signal representing a video image to an image processing unit. A handpiece includes means for generating a signal representing a video image, and includes a first connector. A wireless adaptor module includes a power supply for supplying power to the handpiece, a transmitter for transmitting the signal representing a video image to the image processing unit, and a second connector that mates with the first connector when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode. A cable includes a third connector that mates with the first connector for supplying power to the handpiece and for delivering the signal representing a video image to the image processing unit when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode.
The invention in another embodiment provides a dental camera capable of operating in a wireless mode and a wired mode. A handpiece includes means for generating a signal representing a video image and a first connector that mates with a second connector of a wireless adaptor module when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode, and that mates with a third connector of a cable when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode.
The invention in another embodiment provides a dental camera system switchable between a wireless mode and a wired mode. A handpiece having a proximal end and a distal end includes a light source located on a distal end for illuminating a subject, a window, located near the light source, for receiving light reflected from the subject, light direction means for directing the received light in the proximal direction, an image sensor located on the proximal side of the light direction means, for receiving the directed light, and a first connector located on the handpiece. An image processing unit generates a video signal based on outputs of the image sensor. A wireless adaptor module for operating during the wireless mode includes a power supply for supplying power to the handpiece, a transmitter for transmitting outputs of the image sensor to the image processing unit, and a second connector that mates with the first connector when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode. A cable is included for operation during the wired mode, connected to the image processing unit, for supplying power to the handpiece and for delivering outputs of the image sensor to the image processing unit, the cable having a third connector that mates with the first connector when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode. The image sensor may be a charge-coupled device or an active pixel sensor array.
The invention in another embodiment comprises a dental camera switchable between a wireless mode and a wired mode. A handpiece includes means for generating a signal representing a video image and first connecting means. A wireless adaptor module includes power supply means for supplying power to the handpiece, transmitting means for transmitting the signal representing a video image, and second connecting means that mates with the first connecting means when the dental camera is being operated in the wireless mode. A cable has third connecting means that mates with the first connecting means when the dental camera is being operated in the wired mode.
The invention will next be described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments; however, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions, and subtractions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims.